Retreat Testimonials
“The retreat I attended with Saleem is, by far, the single-most profound retreat that I've ever taken in my life... The retreat allowed and continues to allow me the opportunity to become deeply aware of the mechanics of how this ego and others' egos work. Through that awareness and understanding, there is more and more the opportunity and choice to not follow or indulge in my thought patterns and emotional patterns. When I don't follow those patterns and just stop, what is revealed is the truth of who I really Am. More and more I am experiencing True Freedom, True Peace and True Love in this life. I can't really fully express how grateful I am to Saleem for this retreat and for his transmission of incredible clarity, openness, joy, freedom and deep love... For everyone who wants to be more and more free of their reactive chronic patterns of thinking and feeling and want to live their life in and as Peace and Love, I highly recommend this retreat...”
Jeff Maurer,
Rockville, MD
“I enjoyed my time on the retreat with Saleem and friends enormously. I am involved in non-dual wisdom and psychotherapy (that is, the combination of awakening practices and psychotherapy) as a co-coordinator of the conference called the Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy Conference. As a result, I have seen a lot of presentations and attended many workshops that were about this issue of integration of the absolute and relative aspects of life. I can say with certainty that Saleem has a clear grasp of the integration challenges and issues that people encounter as part of their awakening.
Many go into the awakening process or undertake a spiritual path and tend to sidestep or do a "spiritual bypass" trying desperately to avoid their deeper psychological issues, emotions, and feelings in the body. Saleem offers practical solutions to this natural tendency to avoid the uncomfortable.
Saleem has very clear way of communicating, has an excellent sense of humor, and has methodically thought out his course material. On a retreat that lasted for seven or eight days, he always had a structured activity, often including work in couples or dyads, and lots of lecture material that was engaging. I enjoyed his workshop to the extent that I am hoping that he will send us a proposal for a workshop in San Francisco at our next psychology conference.
I would encourage anyone who is interested in grounding their spiritual work, or who is on the spiritual path and wants help working through old emotional baggage to get in contact with Saleem.
By the way, it was also most rewarding be in Brazil with all of the splendor and natural beauty that the country offers. Also, the tone of the workshop was relaxed and flexible, while also substantive. A nice combination of the two.”
Bob Cowart
Email: bob@cowart.com
Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy Institute: www.wisdompsy.com
“The Retreat in Alta Paraiso with Saleem was powerful medicine that helped to open up places inside myself longing for awareness and healing. Saleem’s clear and gentle guidance, the sweet intimacy of our group, the tropical waterfalls and delicious organic meals -- all conspired to support the deepest inquiry into the nature of reality and the potential for realizing this in everyday human life.”
E. Frost, Oregon
“Taking a retreat with Saleem is one of the most profound and transformational retreats I've ever attended. Profound, because Saleem led me again and again into the direct experience of my own deeper nature. Transformational because I learned practical tools to bring my own vast consciousness to all that is unconscious in my life. During this retreat, I learned through direct experience that the fear and self-hatred that formerly kept me trapped were no match for the love at the core of my being. Thank you, Saleem, for helping me to see and free who I am.”
Rhonda Stapleton
Shelton, CT
“Saleem playfully brought our attention to topics that I had never really examined, like what I had always thought to be my core, the presupposition of my life and the base of my world. Exploring “how” we think made that base seem so dubious and rocked my picture of "me" at its foundation. And what a relief when we examined the “ego deficiency trance” (that belief-image-sense of myself as bad, deficient, not good enough… that I imagined I needed to keep hidden so that nobody can ever can find it) and I realized that this is absolutely not real, it’s a hallucination, a mirage. To say that being on retreat with Saleem is useful, is not even touching the value of what I experienced. What I discovered is absolutely beyond my wildest dreams. How different this world would be, if every soul on earth could have this teaching in school.”
Dr. Klaus Steuben
Kosel, Germany
“The retreat that I attended with Saleem helped me to unveil subconscious patterns and old habits, which led me to discover a fresh, ALIVE response to life! This was tested for me when I got home from the retreat and started to get triggered by a habitual pattern that my husband and I would find ourselves in. However, rather than playing out the same old situation, I was able to notice all of my old tendencies (which before the retreat went unseen), and therefore stay present and in my heart. The old pattern and way of responding just fell away! It was a joyous moment for both of us and we continue to be surprised and delighted by our new understanding and awareness. I highly recommend this retreat for anyone who wants to be present for themselves and to others and express life more authentically. Saleem’s open heart, clarity, and easeful teaching style, create an incredible environment for this retreat.”
Kelly Vittoria
Boulder, Colorado
“By investigating my suffering, I was shown the gift that it contains - it reveals where I'm unnecessarily resisting myself. Identifying common traps of mind patterns, like "this means that", or anchored responses revealed where my incorrect assumptions were getting in the way of allowing for a different experience. Finding the positive intention in my ineffective behavior helped me to see innocence in my mistakes, and see other options for more effective behavior. Ultimately I saw that our experience of either suffering or love is our internal choice, regardless of our outer circumstances. This was incredibly liberating. The material presented was so useful in cutting through suffering, and heightening my awareness, resulting in freedom, that I'd highly recommend this retreat to everyone I know.”
Deborah Games
Stanford, CT
“Being on retreat with Saleem, which I have done several times, has been perfect in liberating more and more veils every time. In a loving atmosphere, Saleem helped us to investigate our thoughts and emotions in such a light and playful way. I realized for the first time what emotions and thoughts are really made of. Through this recognition I realized how much I had tried to suppress emotions, and I felt the poverty of a life without emotion. This opened into an experience of life with a depth of emotion and full of energy, love and harmony - what a realization.
Looking at how we deal with thoughts and feelings changed my total view of life. We are all living in a huge trance every day and all the time. This realization blew my mind and opened up the experience of a more profound truth which does not go, does not change. There are no words to express how liberating these retreats were for me, everybody on earth should attend this retreat and it should be included in basic teaching at school, as it is so liberating, easy and needs nothing except willingness of exploration.”
Dr. Elisabeth Bamelrode
Germany
“Being on retreat with Saleem lifted so much 'fog' from my individual consciousness that the Love and pure Happiness that is my true nature is able to easily be realized despite any residual unconsciousness that arises. Before the retreat, my mind would feel trapped in a maze of analytical problems to solve. Like a machine it worked hard in having to fix what it saw as broken. The retreat helped me connect to the inner-strength that gave me the ability to face what seemed so fearful. Resistant thoughts after thoughts would arise only to be met by a supportive, loving, non-judgmental and accepting environment. This outer support set the stage for an opening within, a dropping from the mind and into the heart where there is no denying the peace that resides. This experience was exactly what was needed to soothe the automatic tendencies and conditioning of the mind. Now when they arise, I do not fight with their arising. There is no believing in arisings as reality. This is true freedom. I am forever grateful for what this retreat allowed me to realize within myself.”
Michelle O'Neil
Wayne, New Jersey
“As a bodyworker and therapist, The skills we learned definitely complimented all the healing modalities in my repertoire. The work that Saleem offers, itself being a fusion of the best, stands on its own as a means of therapeutic intervention and personal deepening. It is so very practical yet never deviates from the essential. Relating with family and friends is really more enjoyable, since listening, intimacy and understanding are so greatly appreciated by all.”
Brian Theard
Mill Valley, California
